Relationships

This is only my views, my opinions. The way I feel about things. It is not intended to judge anyone nor am I trying to push my way of thinking on anyone. It is not my intent to offend anyone.

Luciano De Crescendo once said, " We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other."

 

So why  are we afraid to commit ourselves to loving each other ?

 

Love, compassion, tenderness, sharing, caring and relating are the most vital of human behaviors. We may be in the best of health, have the most beautiful home and a huge bank account. But without these qualities life is empty. Then why knowing this, do we spend so little time developing these behaviors ?

 

Mainly because of the society we are living in, where such words as love and  commitment have been relegated to sentimental and old-fashioned nonsense. Skeptics are ready to ridicule those who speak of broken hearts, of devastating loneliness and the power of love.

 

If you love, you're considered naive. If you're happy, you're considered frivolous and simple. If you're forgiving , you're considered weak. If you're trusting, you're considered a fool. And if you try to be all these things, people say you're a phony.

 

Our society today has bred detached, noncommited people too sophisticated to admit to their confusion, unhappiness and loneliness, and too caught up in ego to risk doing anything about it. relationships do matter. We need love and intimacy  to sustain a good, productive life. A loving touch can heal.

 

Our growing inability to relate to each other is frightening. If this continues soon their will be no marriage, no two parent families, no long lasting relationships. They will become a thing of the past. Extinct.

 

Today meaningless sexual promiscuity is accepted as the norm. To avoid pain, we maintain our distance from each other, become emotionally detached. There is a growing problem of abuse, not only in relationships, but of children and the aged. Individualism, independence, and personal freedom are valued above love and commitment. We are now living in what I call the ( me-ism ) era.

 

By me-ism, I mean everyone is thinking of themselves only. We are putting ourselves above others. If you listen closely to some one talking, we will hear the word (my)quite often when they are refering to something, my children, my house, my car, my money, my, my, my, my,---never ours. Thats because we have begun to think in terms of ourselves only. Selfishness. There's no other word I know for it. And love does  not abide selfishness.

 

There is a story I read sometime ago. it took place in a hospital or an orphanage. I'm not sure now,  which. The babies were all kept in a large room. They failed to thrive and grow and very often died, despite the best efforts of the staff. All except for the baby that was in the crib at the very back of the room, in a corner. The baby in that crib always seem to thrive. As they pondered for the reason for this, they decided to set up a camera and  monitor this crib. As they watched a cleaning woman came into the room every night. She started mopping the floor as she entered the room.

 

She continued through the room, until she had mopped herself into the corner where this crib was. She would take the baby that was in that crib and sit down to rest and wait for the floor  to dry. She would rock, sing and play with baby.

 

After seeing this they began puting different babies in that crib every night. As a result  the babies thrived and there were fewer deaths.

 

We need a loving touch, intimacy in our lives to thrive.

 

Isn't it time we forget our petty egos, give up our fear of being hurt or ridiculed and come together and form loving, long lasting relationships ?

 

We all need each other to fly.

 

 

Author's Note

This is not intended to offend anyone. This is my opinion only.

Reviews

[BrightEyes]

I remember hearing about the babies that you speak of...it was in an orphanage where they simply were way to understaffed to deal with them....people need interactions with other people...that is just plain fact...I understood from the beginning that this piece was your opinion on the state of the world today...so I wasn't looking for facts....now...if this was for a newspaper than I agree that you would need to back up your observations with some factual information...beautifully and lovingly written.

laura

[*** Hey Jude***]

This piece is written with genuineness and truth. I also remember a time that people were kind to others just because, and the friends we had were more than mere acquaintances. You have shown with eloquence how this world seems to be loosing it desire to truthfully care for others. Your "opinion" is straight from the beautiful heart within you Jean! Bravo, this is a fav.! ~ Jude xoxo

[Blindmikey]

So very true. It's the rut of comfort and security that we've grown too accustomed to. Leaving us in the wallows of loneliness, with no one to tend our wounds but ourselves. And let's face it, none of us mend our own wounds very well at all - but somehow, we are remarkably capable of mending the wounds of others.

[Yvonne Heidt]

An excellent opinion, at that. Thank you for sharing it.

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

This is excellent and no offense here, just tome, honest truth.. I love this ..it is not only well written but touches on some of the issues that sadly affect our society.. the me-ism.. eww.. the kindness and forgiveness being taken as a weakness... a pet peeve for me as i always forgive ..this is going to my favorites to read in times of dare i say it , despair.. love it!

Chloe
xoxo

[Midwest Chick]

OMG...

Do you take up residence in my brain? Are you the manifested version of me? lol!

You hit the nail on the head. Loved the baby story.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I would delete the last comma in the sentence," beautiful home, a huge bank account" and replace with an "and". Otherwise, a wonderful write and filled with passion and, more importantly, "compassion" excellent!

[Bubo]

Norma
this is a wonderful and very insightful, truthful write.......I so agree
and love the word me-ism............thats what society has become. I can only be thankful that
I am in a very loving relationship, so in love, happy and that I couldn't care about material things
providing we are all together and healthy.
Your story of the woman taking time for the baby so touched my heart.
This really uplifted me today............because you feel as I do.

[J]

oh dear norma, it is true what you say. i know the spirit's demand for connectivity every day can bankrupt or feed a will to simply survive ...... a simple touch, loving, caring ~ i know. bless you, my dear. and sadly, it doesn't matter the age ~ a failure to thrive can occur at any point. and yes, pride, societal edicts ...... a sad testiment to our world when what we need most is withheld often by what society has put into place ..... eg, in our schools, teachers dare not pat a student on the back ... heaven forbid give a hug .... in the workplace, the same. when all we really want to do is reach out to each other ...

God must surely quiver....

thank you for this. i'm sorry it took me so long to come here. i love your heart.

j

[Gordon Greene]

Wonderfully written... of course speaking in absolutes is offensive to some.

In the future, please water down your message so that the reader gets nothing out of it. That's the only way to please everyone.

You know I say this in jest... I was touched by the words here and had never heard the "Angels" quote.

Beautiful writing... Gordon

[Ladysue]

Norma, this is outstanding. I agree with Helen this should be placed in a magizine, newspaper or such. You points are so true and a vital remider for many. A touch can heal. Intimacy is important and to really acheive these things, we really need all else that you spoke about. Being unselfish, commitment, geniune caring and love. So many have learned to detach to protect themselves. I think it is obvious to many if you just take a good look around that society has changed and really not for the better. I believe that this is strongly evident. I guess life is just a work in progess like anything else and we have to hold true to our own beliefs. I for one am with you on this.